Acts 1:1-14; 26:16-191The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 4And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 12Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. 13And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. 14These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. (Acts 1:1‑14)
16But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 17Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 18To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. 19Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: (Acts 26:16‑19)
My thought, beloved friends, is, to say a few words on one part of what our brother has brought before us, and this is with regard to the “new power” on this earth. When we think of the vastness and magnificence of the subject that we have been listening to, that is, “the interests of Christ,” we must necessarily feel that nothing short of a new and divine power could possibly energize us to take any true part in those interests. Only let our thoughts turn to them in all their greatness and blessedness, apart from the remembrance of the fact that that new power is here, we should certainly be cast down. When we think of the One whose interests they are, and how little those interests seem to command us, how little we move in relation to them, it is of immense comfort to know, that there is a new power come down from the glorified Man, and that this same power is with us still, and will be with us to the end. The Holy Ghost having come down from the blessed One in glory, from Himself that glorified and exalted Man, has come to bear testimony to His exaltation—to the effect of it; He is the power by which our hearts enter into the interests of our glorified Savior, and by whom we are energized and maintained in them.
Luke 24 was previous to the Lord’s exaltation, and we have there an account of the interview that took place between Him and His disciples, which is very blessed, and the words He speaks to them are very touching (v. 49): “And, behold I send the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.” “Power from on high!” What a wonderful reality! The simple way in which these words, “power from on high,” are brought out is very blessed; there is an intimation too in the words which is precious, and carries them with a peculiar emphasis to the heart; for not only was this power to come down from “on high,” but it was to come down from the Man on high—the exalted Man. There is an immensity in the fact, that it is from the glorified Man that the power comes. Man (in the Person of Jesus) has reached the highest place in glory; God now has Man, in the Person of His Son, in His own presence, according to His counsels and purposes, and according to all the desires of His own heart. As Man He is there in the highest place of exaltation. Man has gone up, just as truly as in incarnation God came down, in the Person of Christ; the power that has come down is a divine Person—the Servant of the Son’s glories—and this divine Person, this new power, I say, comes forth from the Man “on high,” from the very scene of His exaltation.
Ministry in Ephesians is in that connection, where we have the dowries of the exalted Christ to the church, His body; it is brought out exactly in the same order; that is, “When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.” In Psa. 68:1818Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them. (Psalm 68:18) (margin) it is, “Thou hast ascended on high—thou hast received gifts in the Man.” “In the Man”—in His human nature exalted. It is all in connection with His exaltation on high He bestows these gifts, that is, persons; and they are bestowed in all the rights and glories of Himself, the exalted Lord. The very vessels in whom the power of Satan had once wrought, and used against Christ, are now used by this new power against the power which once held them.
The Lord is making known to His disciples in Luke 24, concerning this coming power, and these intimations are so full of interest to the heart that knows His love. Another little word I would notice as showing that we must be in the right place to get these intimations—“He led them out.” Surely it is a great thing to be in this outside spot to get such intimations. “He led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them, and it came to pass that while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried into heaven.” There is a special character of blessing unfolded here. Observe, the blessing comes from the blessed Lord’s own hands; He lifted His hands—those hands man had lifted up on the cross—and from thence all blessing comes. Here is His retiring act, the impartation of blessing; and the persons who got the blessing are those who are “led out.” Hence, I judge, we may learn, that if we are now to be recipients of like blessing; if such a peculiar character of blessing is to reach our souls, and the intimations of the Lord made known to them, we must know what it is to be “led out.” There is further a peculiar touch and beauty about those words recorded by the Spirit of God: “He led them out as far as to Bethany.” Bethany was the only place down here where He had found a home—where He was understood; the only spot on this earth that was congenial to Him, the alone shelter that this world afforded Him; and that is the platform from which He departs out of this scene, from which He ascended to heaven. Now He says, You have not yet got power, you must wait (v. 49). That connects itself with Acts 1, where there is a further intimation as to their testimony, in these words: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” It is wonderful the intercourse which passed between the risen Lord and His disciples during those forty days in which He was with them on the earth. When He leaves them here during that space between His going up and the Holy Ghost’s coming down, they were just simply waiting and looking. Has not their attitude a special voice for us? Because we are not yet taken up. We are waiting to be caught up together. We are not waiting for the Spirit. He has come; but we are waiting to be taken up. Is not that company a sample of what we should be? They are a lovely picture; so completely outside the world, in an upper room. Who knew them or cared anything about them? They were gathered, a poor, feeble, waiting, expecting people. They were distinctly marked as a little outside company. What had they to do with the world or its line of things? How truly a separated people they were, a poor, feeble band of men and women, bound together with one Object, together manifesting their weakness and dependence in giving themselves to prayer: and Mary, the mother of Jesus, of whom we have here the last mention in Scripture, is sharing with them their dependent attitude, and they have only one thing to do: to look and to wait and to pray. They were the very expression of dependence. That is the condition in which the power comes; the simple condition that is ever concurrent with it; hence it is found in this little company who are here shown to us, as tarrying according to the Lord’s own words, until they were endued with power from on high. Observe, too, they are occupied with Christ, as well as waiting for the promise of the Father; they expect its fulfilment, and prayerfully await the coming One—the Holy Ghost. Should there not be in us a moral state corresponding to theirs? We are looking and waiting, not, it is true, for the Spirit; but for God’s Son from heaven. Would to God, that the simplicity, and separateness, and dependence that marked them in their day marked us in our day.
Alas! that it is not so we have to admit; but why not? Why should not the interests of Christ so fill our hearts as to detain us, and thus produce in us a moral likeness to these waiting and watching saints? Is not the power for which they waited, but which we possess, able to thus form and fashion us? Surely He is, and it is not possible to exaggerate the power; it is true there is weakness on our part, failure, sorrowful failure: we cannot but own our weakness to-day; would to God we were bowed and broken-hearted about it. But there is no diminution of the power; that Holy Person is still here as truly as ever He was; and with the humbling confession of our low state, there is no ground for desponding, though every ground for humiliation. The same power that came down at the first, and wrought such marvelous effects in the church, is with us still in the same undiminished fullness, though we have sadly grieved and hindered Him in His operations. That brings in our responsibility. There is an immensity to own before God, along with the fact that this power is here, and effectual to work for the interests of Christ. In speaking thus we do not desire to cast saints in upon themselves; in being occupied with ourselves we shall find nothing to comfort, and no power to lead us on. It is only as the heart is in occupation with Christ by the energy of the Spirit, that it can be engrossed with His interests.
There is another point I would allude to, in connection with this Scripture; and that is, the extent of the testimony to which the disciples were called. “And ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” “Ye shall be witnesses unto me.” Observe how the Person and the power go together. We have here three things; the Person, the place, and the power. The Person where He is, the glorified Man at the right hand of God, and the power here, where He is not, but where we are; not only to make everything real to our souls, but to make us witnesses here—to carry us out into those interests. “Ye shall be witnesses unto me.” Mark further the extent of the testimony in contrast with what had existed previously. It was closed up to one people, one nation; but now we have displayed the largeness of the grace that is brought out in all its grandeur and magnificence; it could no longer be bound within the narrow limits of Judaism, but must be world-wide. Jerusalem, the place where the greatest malignity and hatred to Christ had been shown, is to receive first the wondrous message of grace; Judea, the region of religion after the flesh, is to be blest by it; next, comes Samaria, the defiled region; and, lastly, to the uttermost parts of the earth, the sound goes out.
There is a word in Acts 26 which I would just refer to in connection with this subject, where the Lord appears to Paul, and says: “But rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness, both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee; to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”
Paul was to be left here on earth; that is the force of “Rise and stand upon thy feet.” It was not like the case of Stephen who looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God and Jesus; there it was a preparation for Stephen’s impending dissolution. Having rendered his martyr testimony, he was to pass from the earth to heaven.
Here the Lord appears to Paul to make him both a “minister and a witness” in the very scene where He had been rejected. May we all take in what our brother has said about servants being ensamples. We are all servants, though not all ministers. Paul was to be both a minister and a witness. “Witness” is a larger and a wider term than “minister.” A minister is one who dispenses what God gives him; a witness is one who bears testimony in his own person, who has to go through an opposing scene, tried on every side, baffled, tested, if by any means some loop-hole can be found, to spoil the integrity of his witness. And there is one thing which should be particularly marked in connection with this call to Paul, and that is, his testimony and ministry were to partake specially of the character of the place from whence “the power” and commission came; it was to be, in one word, heavenly. “Taking thee out from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom now I send thee.” It should not be “delivering,” but “taking thee out.” The translation as it stands does not give at all the true force of the words of the blessed Lord.
In Paul we have a man who is made the special object of God’s grace, and also of the power of the Holy Ghost; and the Lord says—I am about to separate you to Myself from everything on earth. We have, I believe, in this setting apart of Paul, a forecast of the church. The church was to be altogether distinct and apart from all that was earthly and had its origin here—neither Jew nor Gentile; it was to have no connection whatever with nationality; but to be a peculiar, unique thing in this world. “Taking thee out from . . . unto whom I now send thee.” I separate you entirely—I will fill you with the power and then send you back. That is the way in which the power acts, it separates the vessel entirely, and sends it back to what it is separated from, in all the power of that which has separated it. So Paul was taken out of everything in this scene, set entirely apart, connected with heaven; filled with this heavenly power, and sent back into the world, where he once had associations and links, and to which he once belonged, to be a testimony and witness to that glorified Man at the right hand of God; and to make known the gospel of that glory which had been brought so nigh to him.
The Lord said to him, You are to “open their eyes.” What could do this but heavenly light and power? Who but God could open the eyes of the blind? And yet He thus charges His appointed vessel; God is behind the vessel; and does not that raise a question of the state and condition of that vessel? Go, and open their eyes, and turn them from “darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” Here we have the whole thing set forth in this wonderful commission from the Lord in glory, to a man whom glory arrested, broke down, emptied, and then filled.
The apostle was the vessel charged with this testimony by the Person, filled with the power, and he was to go forth with regard to all these new interests, as a minister and witness to the Gentiles, besides being a minister of the church, as we read: “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church, whereof I am made a minister,” &c.
It is not only a great comfort to know that “the power” is here with us still, but what that power can do for us, and with us. At the same time it is right to remember what we can do; that is, we can hinder that power; we can grieve the Holy Spirit of God; and then there is not the effect, there is not the flowing out, and the wonderful accomplishment of God’s own purposes by the vessel. May the Lord give us to take it to heart, and thus lead us into all that divine sensitiveness with regard to everything in and about us, which would grieve and wound that blessed Comforter and Spirit of God.
May He give us so to live and walk in this power, that we may truly live for the interests and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, while we at the same time wait for Him.
From Occasional Lectures, (June, 1888) 3:80-91.